Most Utahns want a significant tax cut this year, while just over a third say they'd skip the cut if the money were instead spent on needy state programs like education, a new public opinion survey by the Deseret Morning News and KSL-TV shows.

The Dan Jones & Associates poll of 400 Utahns conducted this past week shows that 38 percent of Utahns want a $100 million tax cut, as suggested by GOP Gov. Jon Huntsman Jr.

Nineteen percent favor a $300 million tax cut, a number already approved by Utah House Republicans. Together, 57 percent of Utahns told Jones they want some kind of tax cut in 2007.

But 37 percent said they don't want any tax cuts this year. They favor just spending the extra cash on state programs, Jones found.

It is clear, however, that when lawmakers convene in the 2007 Legislature Jan. 15, the majority Republicans in the Utah House and Senate will be adopting some kind of a tax cut — yet to be determined is how much and which taxes are trimmed.

Assuming a tax cut is coming, Jones asked respondents where they'd prefer seeing those cuts.

Nearly half said they want to spread the cuts across the state's tax horizon, preferring reductions in property, income and sales taxes. A fifth of Utahns said they favor removing the rest of the state sales tax on food.

When he released his $10.7 billion recommended budget for the 2007-08 fiscal year, Huntsman said he wanted a $100 million cut via his new flat-rate income tax plan, which takes effect for the 2007 calendar income tax year.

Huntsman would lower to 5 percent the flat-tax rate and give per-person personal income tax credits to make up the $100 million cut. That change would push many more Utahns into the flat-rate tax system. Without that change, only about 5 percent of Utahns would go over to the flat-rate system, which now has a rate of 5.35 percent and no per-person tax credits.

But House Republicans, in a closed caucus last month, voted for a $300 million tax cut. While various tax cuts were discussed, the 55 newly elected House Republicans have not yet said how they would like those cuts to come.

However, come they must, fiscal conservatives in the House say, because state government can't grow as fast as Huntsman or Democrats want.

A $300 million tax cut could pay for reducing the flat-rate tax to 5 percent and also remove the final 2.75 percentage points from the sales tax on food.